Sunday, March 2

Sunday Dose of Oh Snow Cute


First time mother Ida and her three-day-old baby boy.

I snapped these photos nearly a month (!) ago, but the barnyard looks just like this now—except these lambs are a lot bigger and there are a lot more of them bouncing around.

Until a few years ago, we didn't start lambing until March or April, so seeing lambs on snow was a rarity. This year our first lambs arrived on January 26th, and this winter we've had more days with snow on the ground than we probably have in the last 19 years.

It's white out there again today (though it's actually ice or ice pellets or whatever they call it when it piles up on the ground but is immediately slick as can be), and we're expecting an arctic blast and 3 to 5 inches of snow by morning. I always thought that zero degrees (F) was too cold for it to snow, but I guess we're going to find out.

Treacherous or not, the frozen landscape is lovely to look at, and our little lambs show up so much better against the bright white of snow than the usual dark winter ground.

Just layer on the outerwear and watch your step. Spring will be here soon enough.

Seven more photos below. . .








Current lamb count: 22. Days since the last lambs were born: 14. Number of ewes who may still surprise us: 2, but I think they're just fat and we're all done!

© FarmgirlFare.com, catching up on sleep and counting some really fast moving little sheep.

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful photographs Susan. The lambs ...and Moms...look so healthy. It is always good to see a new post from you :). How's Bert? How is everyone?

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  2. They are just beautiful! Congratulations on the beautiful additions to your flock. Thanks for the update, and glad you're able to catch up on some sleep. Are you too sleepy to begin thinking about planting seeds? Am tickled that I got leeks planted about 5 days ago, and they are poking through the soil. Hooray! Susan, be careful on that slick ice outside!

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  3. What pretty babies! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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  4. So very sweet and cute! They do stand out against the snow. But..it is time for the snow to stop for all of us and let us see some spring!

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  5. Aww, I love seeing all their little faces :) Too cute.

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  6. Beautiful lambs!!! Lambing season must be exhausting but so rewarding! I would love sheep! Jan-march must be exciting times for you! I have enjoyed reading your blog for a long time now!

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  7. What a sweet grey/white lamb! That color seems unusual in your flock.
    And I love the dark legs and faces of the lamb/ewe in the last two photos. It is such a classic color pattern.
    So I'm curious--if you bred them ewes at the "normal" time, but were surprised at the early births, were you using a new ram?

    Sue

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sue,
      I love the classic black head/legs of the Suffolks, too. Since we started crossing Katahdin hair sheep with our Suffolks several years ago, we started getting all sorts of color and pattern combinations on the lambs. Not the uniform look many sheep farmers strive for, but I like it. :)

      Most of the spots and grey coloring on the lambs will bleach out to white, with just the darker legs and head remaining. A lot of the Suffolk lambs are actually born completely black or dark grey.

      We're down to just one ram now, Da Big Guy, who we've been using for several years. We sold our Katahdin ram, Edward, who we used for several years along with Da Big Guy, as well as a cross bred ram we kept for a few years.

      A few years ago we purposely started breeding our ewes earlier in the year (August/September instead of November/December) so as to have the lambs ready to sell earlier in the spring before the prices do their annual post Easter plummet.

      I knew when our first lambs would be arriving this year, but I didn't think we'd be having so many -5 degree F days when they did! :)

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  8. Hi Everybody,
    I'm so glad you enjoyed these photos. Thanks for all the comments! :)

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